Hyperbaric chambers are devices which create sealed environments for the application of therapeutic gases to hasten healing of lesions or wounds on a patient's body. The introduction of pressurized oxygen into such an encapsulated environment promotes healing of various types of lesions and wounds. Specifically, it has been discovered that the treatment of lesions and wounds with hyperbaric chambers, in conjunction with various stimuli, promotes granulation, raises the capillary blood p.sup.02, elevates the Redox potential and suppresses bacterial proliferation. It has been determined that a constant pressure of 22-26 mmHG (1.03 atmospheres) and flow rates of 2 to 8 liters per minute are preferred. The introduction of humidity into hyperbaric chambers also produces positive results.
When hyperbaric chambers were first introduced they encompassed large portions of the patient's body. As time progressed, hyperbaric chambers became more sophisticated and topical hyperbaric chambers were developed. A topical hyperbaric chamber is a device which only encapsulates a small portion of the user's body. As these devices have evolved though, it has become apparent that significant shortcomings continue to exist.
These shortcomings include the failure of the art to provide a convenient portable hyperbaric unit, a portable hyperbaric unit which is capable of producing a hermetic seal in many applications, a portable hyperbaric unit which is affordable, and a portable hyperbaric unit which is disposable. The present invention provides advancements in these areas. In particular it is an object of the present invention to provide a topical hyperbaric apparatus capable of adapting to various contours of the human body. It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is convenient to use and fully portable. A further object of the present invention is to provide such an apparatus at a cost which will enable wider use and, in the proper case, disposability; such disposability being a significant improvement and widely acknowledged as necessary in facilities which treat large numbers of patients.
Prior to the present invention, portable hyperbaric units were available, but these units failed to solve many of the presently addressed problems. For instance, in Lasley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,513, the patient is apparently required to stand during treatment. This is at times a sufficient enough requirement to preclude the use of this device. The '513 device is also constructed to encompass a large portion of the patient's body. This requires a relatively significant amount of oxygen and exposes areas of the body which do not require treatment to the negative effects of the therapeutic atmosphere, such as drying.
LoPiano, U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,799, discloses a device which treats only a small area of the patient's body and, therefore, solves the problem of unduly exposing healthy parts of the patient's body to the drying effects of the therapeutic atmosphere. However, this device fails to provide adequate seals during various applications. This poor sealing is significant because many of the areas of the body where such poor sealing occurs are areas which are highly susceptible to treatable lesions, such as bedsores on the buttock. This poor sealing is the result of both the inherent design of the device and movements of the patient. The inherent sealing limitations of this device result from the sealing apparatus which it utilizes. This sealing apparatus is in fact comprised of the patient's body, the bed frame or suitable other securing means and a feathered edge flange which expands and seals against the patient's body when the appropriate treating atmosphere is introduced into the chamber itself. This feathered flange is suited for producing a seal only on areas of the body which are basically flat. This device is not suitable for use in the area of bony protrusions or other irregularities in the surface of the skin, such as the division between buttock. This is a significant limitation.
Lasley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,571, discloses a portable topical hyperbaric chamber similar to the LoPiano patent. This device alleviates the need for cumbersome securing means by introducing a belting means in conjunction with a more resilient feathered flange sealing means. This device though, as discussed in relation to the '513 patent, similarly suffers from the shortcomings of the feathered flange sealing means; and similarly is only effective on portions of the body which do not exhibit surface irregularities. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved portable hyperbaric chamber which is capable of being effectively applied to the less easily treatable area of the human body. This is a significant need because, as previously stated, bedsores and the like typically occur in the non-planar areas of the human body.